From 0KM to 10KM: Great Eastern Women’s Run 2015 Training and Review

Wooh I did it! 10KM down and setting a PB in the process.

I’ve been wanting to do a 10KM this year after doing two 10KM runs last year, but with my running buddy pregnant and with me slacking on my training, I thought I’ll skip it this year. However, as the year inches to an end, my running itch got the better of me and I signed up running solo for the GE Run. I admit that I signed up for the GE Run partly because of the cheap price $37 (after various discounts) and the goodie bag (2 t-shirts).

Even though I signed up at the end of July, I didn’t do any training until October. It was the end of September that I suddenly realise that the GE Run is approaching (1 Nov) and only started training on 1 October.

The start was dreadful and the haze added to the misery…

RunKeeper Stats

I started training on 1 October with the haze in the unhealthy range of 195. I thought I had to start now and to hell with the haze. But I felt the effect of the haze after running for only 1KM, and stopped at 1.33KM. Bad pace, and already busted lungs and legs since I had almost 3 months of zero training.

This bad start motivated me to train more frequently. I managed to do two pretty decent 2KM runs the following days when the haze was in the moderate level. However, since the haze got a turn for the worst, I started hitting the gym and on to the treadmill. I also got online to search for a 8 week half marathon training plan since I thought that in order to get a good pace for a 10KM run that’s coming up in 4 weeks, getting on a training plan that prepares you to run 21.1KM in 8 weeks sounds practical.

And then, I discovered heart rate (HR) training in running…
I’m still very new to HR training and still do not possess a HR training equipment (luckily the treadmill can tell me my HR), but from what I know, we are supposed to run in our target heart rate zone. It is then that I realised that I am pushing my easy runs by running at almost 170 bpm. Apparently, I should run at a more comfortable conversational pace say 158 bpm to train my heart and build my endurance. Training at this pace also makes running more enjoyable. Currently my comfortable speed is at 7.7-8 KM/H.

What I like about this half marathon plan is that there are long run training on Sundays (GE Run is a Sunday), so essentially I get to set myself mentally prepared to do a long run on the GE Run day. I do not do the long run training on the treadmill and instead do a morning outdoor run to mimic the GE Run condition.

RunKeeper Stats for 6 Miles Long Run

There are days during this month’s training that I feel lethargic and lack motivation to train but I’ll just put on my running shoes and start running 6 minutes. Because usually, I’ll be in the training zone after 6 minutes of running.

Race Day finally here…

Credit: GE Women’s Run Facebook Page

I got to the starting pen 20 minutes earlier, and did the stretches with everybody. It’s quite fun and the warmup got rid of cold legs. Getting there early ensured that I’m not stuck at the back of the start and won’t get caught up in a bottleneck when people start walking later on. I also manage to somewhat follow the pacers that are meaning to finish the run within 1hr.

GE 10KM Route

The run started well and I managed to keep the pace under 7min/km until the 6th KM. I then begin to lose pace when I reached the downslope and steep incline at Republic Ave and never gained in back. This is also where I hydrated myself (GE had 4 hydration points! Kudos to this). I then continued at an average of 7.11min/km until the end of the run. I was running towards the finish line and was surprised that the clock is at 1.06+h (can’t wait for official timing!). I thought that the run was lost when my pace slowed down.

Credit: GE Women’s Run Facebook Page

Post run leading out of the venue, I got a 100plus, Ice Mountain Sparking Water, and also the medal in a very organised and efficient manner. There is a huge carnival happening at The Float with food, massage therapy and also an area for us ladies to freshen up. Overall, this is the most organised run that I’ve been to so far (versus SHAPE Run 2014 and StandChart Run 2014). I’m also trilled that I got a new PB with a nett time of 1h05m32s. People say that there are many reasons that we run, I run because I can, and so can you.